We can’t quite spill the beans in regard to AMD’s upcoming Bulldozer-based desktop processors, codenamed Zambezi (yet), but the company made an announcement today that bodes well for those of you waiting to get your hands on AMD’s next-gen CPU architecture.

In a short and to-the-point press release that hit the wire a few hours ago, AMD announced that they’ve shipped their first Bulldozer-based processors for server and enterprise applications, codenamed Interlagos. Initial production of Interlagos, which is a 16-core processor utilizing two eight-core dies on a single package, began in August and revenue shipments to customers has already started.

AMD's "Interlagos" 16-Core Processors Are Compatible With Current Opteron 6100 Series Platforms

“This is a monumental moment for the industry as this first ‘Bulldozer’ core represents the beginning of unprecedented performance scaling for x86 CPUs,” said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, AMD Products Group. "The flexible new ‘Bulldozer’ architecture will give Web and datacenter customers the scalability they need to handle emerging cloud and virtualization workloads.”

The first Interlagos chips are compatible with existing AMD Opteron 6100 Series platforms and infrastructure (after a BIOS flash that requires a previous-gen processor). According to the press release, many of the initial shipments have been earmarked for large, custom supercomputer installations that are currently being built, but partner system based on Interlagos are expected to launch and be available in the fourth quarter of this year.